Tuesday, August 26, 2008

There is general agreement that the original rudder on the W42 is undersized. Many owners have enlarged it. Ted Brewer feels that it can be safely enlarged by up to 30% without risk to the original rudder shaft. This is certainly true if the shaft has been built to the designers original specifications. I plan to enlarge the rudder but first I will split the rudder and check and overhaul the shaft as necessary. This, hopefully, is a one off operation which would not have to be done again for the remaining life of the boat.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The correct answer should be as few as possible. At 3am when the water is gently lapping over the deck boards the less places you have to check the better. Having to check 13 sea cocks (I was wrong in my previous post, I found another one), four transducer/speed log fittings and the sonar from hell, might get a little tiresome. Therefore nine holes were destined to be ground out and filled in. The removal is the fun part (except for the fiberglass dust) as I was always good at taking things apart.

Now I’m getting paranoid.We sailed into Miami in 2005 quickly followed by 5 hurricanes.

Since we sold Eriu, there has been NO hurricanes in Florida.So we buy the “hull” and three weeks later TS Fay sits on Cape Canaveral and drops 15 to 20 ins of water on top of the boat.At least it was a good time to check for deck leaks and so far they have been limited to the usual suspects (two small ports, two places where the deck hardware has been removed).

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Owner #1 (We are #3) must have been an amateur submarine hunter because under a well made box in the v-ee berth I found this. Its a "Wesmar" sonar. The company is still in existence http://www.wesmar.com/ , wonder if they want this for their museum;

It is bolted on to a massive flange glassed in to the bow and can be lowered and raised. Well its about to be removed and replaced with a more manageable sized depth transducer..

Saturday, August 9, 2008

I know that this will upset the purists amongst you (assuming anyone is reading this) but I am not a fan of Wilcox Crittenden sea cocks. These things are bullet proof and will last forever BUT they require annual maintenance and they live in the bilge. Now, I am happy to visit the bilge on occasion, but mostly to recover bottles of wine and rum stored there. Since child labor is outlawed and I am unlikely to get more supple and/or thinner with age, working in the bilge is a definite no-no. The plan is to replace them with Groco seacocks as per the attached link;http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/replacing_thruhulls

In the interim the existing 12 seacocks had to be freed.

Some had been in hiding for some time (possibly 30 years?)

A closer look.

Access to the after starboard two seacocks required an additional access hatch. This has been retrofitted on most Whitby's by now. This is my first attempt on TIH and may be enlarged later. The red thing on the left is a Fein Multitool, every boy should have one.

1. If the boat is in the water dive under the hull and ram wooden plugs into ALL of the holes in the boat.2. Gain access to the bilge by lifting several deck boards, move wine/rum out of the way etc.3. Lie flat on your stomach while placing all necessary tools close at hand.4. Reach deep down into the bilge and try and move the handle of the seacock. It won't.5. Reach behind you and grab the correct spanner. (do not ask your wife, she is busy).6. Release the first nut then the second one.7. With the mallet (which you have held in your teeth, until now) gently (haha) tap the end of the shaft to free barrel of the seacock. Now try and move it.8. If that doesn't work, reach back for a pliers, remove the split pin from the shaft and remove the handle.9. Apply a large Pipe Wrench to the end of the shaft and apply 200 lbs of pressure on the very end of it. This will involve sticking leg deep into bilge via a sharp edged fiberglass hole and jumping up and down.10. When it finally moves (and it will), clean blood and skin off of wine/rum bottles and bandage leg. (Wife may help with this but do not expect any sympathy, after all the same thing happened last year).11. Disassemble all parts, wash in kerosene, re grease and reassemble (do NOT drop any parts deep into the bilge).12. Dive back in the water and remove the plugs that have now swollen in size, remembering that sharks are attracted by blood.

One subject that strikes fear into the heart of most boat owners is the term "hull blisters" also knows as "boat pox". Whitby's have little or no history of such a problem but it pays to take precautions. Painting on a barrier coat before applying anti-fouling is one such option. The fact that the hull had been dried for such a long time made this an ideal opportunity to do this.

First the old anti-fouling had to come off. Wet sandblasting is a good way to do this as long as the operator know what he is doing and avoids damaging the underlying gel coat. It all worked extremely well.

After having done extensive research about chemically removing the existing bottom paint I was relieved to hear that the yard did not permit such methods. It was certified as a "Clean Marina" and planned to keep it that way. Having hauled our previous boat in various developing countries over the years I was never too happy seeing pretty nasty chemicals drain into local waters.

These are photos of "Eriu" hauled in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala.

'I'm sure the EPA inspector is under here somewhere"

The good news is the there is a new "fully complaint" yard in the Rio. Hopefully it will continue to exist.

After 15 years in the same spot it was time to move. The guy driving the lift happily informed me that he was 7 years old when TIH was hauled. A large number of lizards, various beetles and at least one nest of wasps were not impressed. The move was temporarily halted to allow the hoist operator to receive treatment for wasp stings.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

As TIH is pretty "stripped out" I will have to deal with the installation of some major systems. These include (in order of priority);

1. Overhaul all thru-hulls and paint bilge. Possibly install a "Sea chest" and close up some existing thru-hulls.2. Replace chain plates and reinstall masts. I would like to investigate moving the chain plates to the outside of the hull.3. Overhaul the fuel tanks.4. Overhaul water tanks.5. Re-Plumb the fresh/salt water systems.6. Install new hatches (already purchased by previous owner).7. Re-install rigging and winches.8. Re-install windlass.9. Re-engine.10. Re-wire

Actually more than a hull. Its a complete boat that had been dis-assembled quite a few years ago. Everything was there, some parts had been overhauled, some like the engine were awaiting work. The previous owner's plans had changed but he had done a superb job in preserving the boat.